Budget Battle Bash

Guy reveals that the contestants must each create an elevated grilled cheese with only $6.93. Luckily they are provided with coupons to help stretch their possibilities. Amy thinks she's got it in the bag: "I'm pretty confident. I make grilled cheese every Saturday when my boys are home from school."

Grilled Cheese Gone Gourmet

Amy chooses pepper Jack for her grilled cheese and elevates it with sauteed onions. Even though Melissa calls Amy's sandwich "grilled cheese nirvana," she thinks the onions could have cooked longer. And Troy thinks Amy could have used her coupons to get in some more ingredients. In the end the judges don't find it elevated enough, and Amy checks out.

Deconstructed Dessert

In Game 2, the contestants must create their most-unusual dessert using only the meat/dairy aisle. Jason makes a peach compote, spooned into Japanese mochi balls, and serves it with black sesame goat cheese cream and deep-fried puff pastry. Melissa loved the peach compote, but she thought the deep-fried pastry was too oily. Jason ends up in the checkout lane.

The Holiday Meal Turned Upside Down

In Game 3, Guy lets the contestants shop without any restrictions in creating a holiday meal, but they must shop using a grocery bag. What he doesn't tell them is that the game is actually called Bag Swap, which means they will be cooking with one another's ingredients. Richard says, "It's not really the holidays until there's a little tension."

Thanksgivingkuh

Aram ends up getting Claud's Thanksgiving-inspired ingredients. At first, Aram didn't know what to shop for because he's Jewish, but Claud's bag gives him direction. His only issue is cooking the turkey breast, which comes out raw; he decides to slice it off the bone and deep-fry it.

A Last-Minute Turnaround

Claud gets Aram's ingredients for a rib-eye steak dinner with Brussels sprouts, celery root and Swiss chard. Claud almost forgets the challenge requires two side dishes, but he already has combined the sprouts and celery root into one dish. Luckily he has the chard, which he sautes in the last few minutes, finishing plating in the last second.

The Best Holiday Meal

The judges must choose whose holiday meal was best. Richard thought Aram's mushrooms were overcooked, but Troy thought Aram "ruined [them] in the best possible way." Regarding Claud's Swiss chard, Melissa thought it "was a real highlight because it hinted at the holidays." But in Claud's haste he didn't trim the steak, which Troy didn't like.

Special Item on the Grocery List

Ultimately, Aram checks out and Claud goes onto the Super Shopping Spree for a chance to bag up to $20,000 in prize money if he can find all 10 items on the grocery list within two minutes. Guy also tells Claud to look for a special red box.

The Big Holiday Winner

Claud is beyond grateful. Not only did he win $16,000 for grabbing eight items on the grocery list, but he also found the little red box, which contains $5,000 in additional cash, bringing his total win to $21,000, which he plans to use toward his daughters' education.